Oak Ridge Today

DOE award recognizes UCOR safety performance

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UCOR President and Project Manager Ken Rueter is pictured above at the K-25 History Center on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

UCOR President and Project Manager Ken Rueter is pictured above at the K-25 History Center on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy for outstanding safety performance in its role as lead cleanup contractor for the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge, a press release said.

UCOR received the DOE Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star of Excellence at the VPP Participants Association national conference in Nashville. This is the second consecutive year UCOR has won the award, the press release said.

The Star of Excellence recognizes UCOR’s outstanding level of performance in meeting established safety and health goals, actively conducting outreach to others, and in achieving an injury and illness rate significantly below the average of similar businesses and operations, the release said.

“The work we perform every day is some of the most hazardous and challenging in the nation,” said Ken Rueter, UCOR president and chief executive officer. “As our work continues expanding to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex, we have continued our high level of safety performance despite having to tackle new challenges.” [Read more…]

Three subcontracts awarded for new K-25 History Center

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This is a rendering of the exterior of the K-25 History Center, center, on the second floor of Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4 at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. Also planned are an Equipment Building and Viewing Tower. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

This is a rendering of the exterior of the K-25 History Center, center, on the second floor of Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4 at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. Also planned are an Equipment Building and Viewing Tower. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, has awarded three subcontracts totaling more than $5.3 million to construct, conduct site improvements, and fabricate and install exhibits for the K-25 History Center at the East Tennessee Technology Park.

The history center will occupy 7,500 square feet in the second floor of the existing, city-owned Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4. The building is adjacent to the K-25 Building’s 44-acre footprint, which is now part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The history center will include a theater and interactive galleries that display equipment, artifacts, and other media to highlight the site’s workers and numerous Manhattan Project and Cold War-era accomplishments, a press release said.

UCOR awarded two subcontracts for construction and site improvements to North Wind Construction Services LLC of Knoxville, and it awarded a third subcontract for exhibit fabrication and installation to Formations Inc. of Portland, Oregon, the press release said. [Read more…]

You can see the future home of the K-25 History Center on Thursday

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A rendering of the K-25 History Center at the Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4 at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

A rendering of the K-25 History Center at the Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4 at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

A celebratory event on Thursday will formally launch a project to commemorate the history of the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, a uranium-enrichment site that was once known as K-25 and built to help make the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

Thursday’s celebration will be followed by a public tour from 2 to 4 p.m.

Co-sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge, the event is part of the city’s 75th Anniversary celebration. It will feature a walk-through of the future home of the K-25 History Center, which will be located in the city’s Fire Station Number 4 at the East Tennessee Technology Park. The U.S. Department of Energy and URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, DOE’s lead cleanup contractor, will unveil plans and the layout for the History Center before construction starts, a press release said.

Large graphics placed throughout the building will provide the visitor a preview of the finished center, the press release said. [Read more…]

UCOR recognized for industry safety leadership

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The National Safety Council has named URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, known as UCOR, as one of its 2017 Industry Leader Award winners for safety performance. The award, a component of the NSC Occupational Awards Program, recognizes outstanding safety achievements of NSC members, a press release said.

Participants in the NSC 2017 Occupational Excellence Achievement Award (based on 2016 calendar year data) are automatically entered into the running for the Industry Leader Award, the press release said.

“Only the top 5 percent of members earn the recognition based on the best self-reported performance for its North American Industry Classification System code, lowest total incidence rate, and employee work hours,” the release said.

“We are pleased to receive this prestigious recognition from the National Safety Council,” said Ken Rueter, UCOR president and project manager. “This is yet another in a series of recent awards that recognize UCOR and underscore our commitment to a strong safety culture. [Read more…]

Demolition starts on last of big five uranium-enriching buildings at K-25

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K-27-Demolition-Start-Feb-8-2016

A high-reach machine is used to start demolishing the four-story, 10-acre K-27 Building on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. K-27 is the last of the big five uranium-enriching buildings at the former K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Demolition started Monday on K-27, the last of the big five uranium-enriching buildings at the former K-25 site, and officials expect the work to be complete by the end of the year.

The five buildings—K-25, K-27, K-29, K-31, and K-33—once used a process called gaseous diffusion to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. Officials credit them for helping to win World War II and end the Cold War, and for playing significant roles in technological developments and the nuclear industry.

The K-25 site, which is now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center, was built during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first nuclear weapons. The site is now slowly being converted into a large industrial park.

“The majority of the property will be reused,” said Ken Rueter, president and project manager for UCOR, or URS |CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Williams named UCOR chief operating officer

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Fran-Williams

Fran Williams

Fran Williams has been selected as the chief operating officer for UCOR, the federal government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge.

Williams will fill the position vacated last month by Matt Marston, who left to accept a senior management position within AECOM, one of the parent companies of UCOR, or URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC.

Williams is returning to UCOR, where she previously served as manager of Environment, Safety, Health, and Quality Assurance, a press release said. She retired in 2015 after overseeing UCOR’s successful designation as a Star site in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Voluntary Protection Program. Star status recognizes the safest operating sites in the nation.

She also helped set the company on a course to achieve more than five million work hours without a lost-time accident, the press release said. [Read more…]